by Calculated Risk on 12/05/2012 07:01:00 AM

From the MBA: Mortgage Applications Increase in Latest MBA Weekly Survey

The Refinance Index increased 6 percent from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 0.1 percent from one week earlier.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,500 or less) decreased to 3.52 percent, matching the lowest rate in the history of the survey, from 3.53 percent, with points increasing to 0.41 from 0.40 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans.

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows the MBA mortgage purchase index.

The purchase index had been mostly moving sideways over the last two years, however the purchase index has increased 9 of the last 11 weeks.  The 4-week average of the purchase index is at the highest level since 2010 (when the tax credit boosted application activity).

The 4-week average is up about 25% from the low in 2011.